Here’s to the perfect summer treat – a Cherry Cake, inspired by the beloved dessert from the Vosges Mountains, in Eastern France. This cake is light, airy, bouncy and nestled with sweet, juicy cherries. It’s the perfect baked good to celebrate cherry season and enjoy all summer long.
Cherry Cake from Eastern France
Cherry cakes are immensely popular in Eastern France, including Alsace and its Vosges Mountains. The area is renowned for its cherry production and cherry desserts hold a pride of place in the region’s baking repertoire – specifically the famous Black Forest cake*, or this lesser-known (and far simpler) cherry cake.
* Though originating from the Black Forest region of Germany, the decadent Black Forest dessert is also considered a staple from Alsace.
The crumb of this cake is reminiscent of a Savoy cake, a classic French sponge cake, known for being exceptionally light and airy. This delicate texture is achieved by beating the egg whites separately until they form stiff peaks before gently folding them into the batter. This method incorporates ample air, resulting in the cake’s distinctive fluffiness. The combination of the light, airy batter with the juicy, sweet cherries creates a truly delicious experience!
Proof is, my husband is not a fan of cherries and simply does not care for Cherry clafoutis and such, but he actually loves this cake! So, for people who are not fans of the flan-like consistency of the clafoutis, I say this cake is a winner!
Ingredients you’ll need for this Cherry Cake
- Eggs. 4 large eggs are required for this cake, with the eggs and yolks divided. The egg whites are beaten to a stiff peak and folded into the batter at the end, creating the signature light and airy texture of this cake. Read my tips below for beating egg whites successfully.
- Sugar. Opt for good old plain white sugar.
- Flour. All-purpose flour is the way to go.
- Butter. The butter gets melted and then cooled completely before being added to the batter.
- Cherries. Opt for fresh seasonal cherries, not frozen, preserved nor dried. I prefer Rainier, Chelan or Bing – the most popular ones in North America and readily available in the Summertime in grocery stores and on market stalls.
Audrey’s tips for perfect egg whites
This recipe is pretty straightforward with no difficult techniques. Although I would say beating the egg whites to a stiff peak is really key here to create the cake’s signature bouncy and airy texture. So, here are some recommendations:
- Use pristine equipment. When beating the egg whites, make sure you are using a bowl and beater that are perfectly clean. Egg whites tend to refuse to whip if they encounter any residual fat or even if there are tiny amounts of egg yolk.
- Fold, don’t stir. When folding the egg whites with the batter, use a large rubber spatula and be gentle. The important thing is not to stir, but fold. In small additions, carefully place a portion of the egg whites on top of the batter and fold it in by using a flipping motion. Stop when the batter is just uniform – do not overmix.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which variety of cherry is best for this cherry cake?
It all depends of what you prefer! Generally speaking, there are two types of cherries: sweet or sour. I personally prefer fresh sweet cherries – like Bing, Rainier, Chelan – for making this cake. They are my personal preference: they are juicy and yield a nice sweetness. But if you prefer sour cherries with a punchier acidic taste, you can opt for Montmorency or Morello. In any case, make sure you go with fresh cherries – not frozen, preserved nor dried.
Do you need to pit the cherries?
You don’t have to pit the cherries if you don’t want to or don’t have time. That being said, I personally prefer to pit them before adding them to the cake. This makes for a much better eating experience. But again, the choice is yours!
How to Store this Cherry cake?
- Chill it. After making and enjoying this cake – if you have any leftovers – you can cover it with plastic film. Store it in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Freeze it. Once the cake is baked and completely cooled to room temp, wrap it in aluminum foil., then place it in a freezer-safe container (ie. tupperware), for up to 3 months.
I hope you’ll love this French-style Cherry Cake recipe as much as I do. If you have any questions, please leave a comment.
More French cakes to try:
- Classic French Chocolate Moelleux Cake
- Fresh Strawberry Moelleux Cake
- Lemon Olive Oil Cake
- Chestnut Cream Cake (Gâteau Ardechois)
- French Walnut Coffee Cake (Gâteau Grenoblois)
- Plum Moelleux Cake
- Chocolate Vanilla Marble Cake (Gâteau Marbré)
- Basque Cake with pastry cream (Gâteau Basque)
12 comments
Looks amazing. Going to try asap
Merci, Kenda! Would love to know what you thought once you give it a go! 🙂
Audrey,
These cherries are expected to drop to the bottom of the batter and not end up “distributed” is that correct? Also, are you adding the cherries whole or have they been halved as they appear halved inside cake. Thank youl
Hello, Den! Absolutely, the cherries will basically sink in this batter, completely normal! As for the cherries, I like to remove the pit from inside, so my cherries are “halved” but still attached. If you want to keep the pit inside (and some people do) you can leave them whole… Pitted makes for an easier bite and makes a lot harder to accidentally break a tooth!
Have you ever tried other fruits? I have some fresh blackberries that I just picked and they are delicious.
With this cake in particular, I can’t quite recall if I have used other fruits or not, but it would definitely suit many fruits, in my opinion. I can see stonefruits working really nice in here, and blackberries, if decently firm, should also work quite well! They may “bleed” color a little bit, but the taste and texture should still be great!
Made this cake yesterday. Absolutely wonderful!!
So appreciated, Donna! This cake is so delicious, I’m glad you enjoyed it as much as I do.
Love that this isn’t a sweet cake. Followed exactly (left pitted cherries whole), and the crumb came out as pictured. But used an 8-inch cake pan (not springform), which resulted in the higher pieces I wanted. Baked full 40 minutes because of the smaller pan, but next time I would reduce that to 30-35 minutes to get a more moist, spongy texture. Granulated sugar on top melted into cooked cake, though, so mine looked a bit different. Maybe a very light sprinkling of confectioner’s sugar (don’t want to add too much sweetness) after cake cools?
So glad it worked out, Deb! Great tips for those using an 8inch pan as well… It’s alwas a bit tricky dialing in the exact minutes when you shrink a pan but sounds like you have it all figured out now. As for the sugar, it does bake into the cake somewhat, but should still leave traces that it was there on the top. This is absolutely the type of cake that a light sprinling of confectioners sugar would go great with, even if not “traditional”.
Hi, I bought your cookbook ( amazing recipes and photography!), but I was hoping to find some of the wonderful dessert recipes you sent out today (7/26). I can’t seem to print them without getting parts of the ads …so disappointing!
I am part French on my maternal grandmother’s side and both she and her mother, a cook for a family in NYC many decades ago, didn’t seem to bake…at least my nana didn’t.
What’s the secret to printing them, please?
Thank you so very much for your support, Paola. I truly appreciate it. The cookbook was truly a labor of love (and lots of time!). I enjoyed every second of it.
The print problem sounds very odd to me. you’re clicking the “print recipe” button down at the reipe card, correct? This should open a prompt window asking you to save or print the document, and there should NOT be any ads. I just confirmed using 3 different devices, and none of them have an ad on them.
Can you confirm for me? Worst case I will email you a copy, but I’d like to figure out your issue. Which browser are you using as well, just to know.
Thanks!